1. What was the one thing about your venue that made you know it was the one?

The details of the villa were absolutely breathtaking. Every detail from the architecture to the panoramic views.

2. Which three details from your wedding were your favorites?

1. The gorgeous rooftop reception. It was in the evening, and there where beautiful candle lights everywhere, floating orchids in cylinder vases, romantic crystal mirror chargers, and regal plum linens.

2. The surprise dancing Carnival and drummers. Our guests still talk about it today!

3. The beach ceremony. It was classic, romantic, and timeless.

3. Give us the one moment in your wedding day you can’t stop thinking about.

Our first dance. My husband was insistent that we have our first dance to a classic romantic Latin love song called “Boliviana” by Ibrahim Ferrer. It’s about a man professing his love to a beautiful dark-haired woman in a white dress.

From the Photographer: “Hilary and Kevin hail from Texas where they met while working at Neiman Marcus. Many people think that all destination weddings end up having a very similar tropical color scheme, but the reality is – your wedding should incorporate the colors that speak to you and that you love. Hilary created a really pretty yellow and gray color scheme and bucked that tropical trend. And it turned out gorgeous!

The ceremony was in such a unique spot – a coconut grove. The couple said their “I do’s” under an arch that was handmade from driftwood and incorporated that lovely sunny yellow color in the sunflowers and gerberas. To quench their guests’ thirst, the couple offered Coco Locos, a drink of local coconuts and Costa Rican rum. Delish! All the decor pieces had a “found object-ness” about them – from hand-painted driftwood signs to recycled mason jars with candles that hung in the trees.

We adored the kids’ table – so much fun with crayons, glitter, paints, stickers, you name it! The kids were kept busy all night and had a grand time! They also had a babysitter who looked after them all so that the parents could really have a fun time, too.

The seating chart was such a unique idea. It was an old wooden ladder with jute rope – the place cards were held on by clothespins. It looked so divine. We really loved the bridesmaid dresses that brought in that fun yellow again and flowers too. Again the couple bucked the trend and told the bridesmaids that they could pick any dress they wanted that reflected their own personality, the only stipulation was that it was in the same color scheme – and the flower girls were beyond adorable in their Crewcuts by J.Crew dresses. Hilary stole the show in head-to-toe BHLDN – she looked amazing yet not fussy. She was able to enjoy walking on the beach and dancing the night away in her beautiful dress, perfect for a destination wedding.” – A Brit & A Blonde

3. Our photographers-they did an amazing job capturing every last detail. Some pictures captured moments that could have been missed within the blink of an eye.

Give us one moment in your wedding that you can’t stop thinking about?

I can’t stop thinking about the entire weekend. A destination wedding allowed for us to spend quality time with our friends and family. We didn’t have to cram everything into four or five hours. We had days to create memories. It was an unforgettable experience, and we wouldn’t have done it any other way.

“Carrie and David are both vegan and wanted to have a truly vegan wedding experience. While Costa Rica is a proud steward of the environment (26% of the country is protected), vegetarianism isn’t widely recognized. Luckily, gourmet chef Marco Gonzalez, is a true master of vegan cooking and baking and created recipes, consulted and was on-hand to oversee and assist for both the vegan rehearsal dinner and wedding buffet. For decor Weddings Costa Rica tried to do everything as eco and natural as possible. All the flowers were grown locally and ceremony and welcome gift baskets were hand-woven by an indigenous women’s cooperative. Color scheme of mahogany, cymbidium green, lime green, terracotta and fuschia was brought to life using hydrangeas, dendrobium orchids, roses, fuji mums, pom pom mums, Bells of Ireland, branches, seeds from Guanacaste trees, and various berries were woven into the decor. All paper products were printed on paper made from banana fibers, including the mini-flags in the cupcakes, deciphering the different flavors. They wanted to give a ‘Rainforest Rustic’ look and tried to be as eco-conscious at possible. Instead of a guest book, WCR designed and printed reproductions of antique post cards of Costa Rica over the past century. It was a beautiful wedding that proved that being kind to the environment doesn’t mean having to sacrifice great taste (both in decor and food!).” –Comfort Studio

Betty and Patrick met at College in the US. Betty was born and raised in sunny Costa Rica and after College the two of them decided they wanted to move to Costa Rica together. Betty’s family owns and operates a farm here and now the two of them work side by side on the family farm. Patrick was born and raised in Plattsburgh, New York – so his family and friends flew in to celebrate their big day. Tropical Occasions were the event designers and planners and did a beautiful job with the ceremony set up and reception area. We loved the night lighting that they had as well. Beautiful flower arrangements and moss and driftwood lined the centers of each table. They got married at Hacienda Pinilla in lovely Guanacaste province in Costa Rica. A fun photo booth complete with always fun props was set up for guests to take snaps so that the couple could have a great playful album of everyone. Super sweet jars of honey were the “thank you” gift for each of their guests. And were a major hit! The couple wanted to offer their guests a truly Costa Rican experience – so they brought in a Mascarada to entertain everyone during cocktails. Essentially La Mascarada is a very old Costa Rican tradition that has recently come back in vogue for weddings and events. It is a parade of giant masked figures. The make are larger than life and are of characters from Costa Rica folklore. La Cimarrona were around to play traditional music to accompany the parade and had everyone up and dancing and having the time of their lives. It was an incredible experience. ~A Brit & A Blonde